The invention relates to an open-end rotor spinning unit with a spinning rotor, a supply roller and an opening roller, whose axles, in plan view, are arranged in parallel planes with respect to each other. A drive shaft containing a worm for driving the supply roller has an axle extending perpendicularly to the above mentioned planes and coaxially to a swivel axis of a hinged housing. The hinged housing is arranged at at least one mounting support to be pivotable from a rotor housing position containing the spinning rotor and supports the supply roller and the opening roller.
A device of this kind as disclosed in German patent 18 15 776 C2 represents the prior art. The hinged housing, which supports the supply roller and the opening roller, is also when in operation the cover for the device for open-end rotor spinning, without the supply roller and the opening roller being accessible from the outside. The hinged housing is linked with the rotor housing, which is supported on the hinged housing with an axle, by an adjustable mechanism in such a way that by swivelling the hinged housing into a maintenance position, the rotor housing is also pivotable, however in the opposite direction. The driving shaft for the supply roller is supported in a pipe, on which in turn the hinged housing is pivotally supported. Due to this type of mounting support, as well as the linkage between the rotor housing and the hinged housing, it is not possible to disassemble only the hinged housing alone for maintenance purposes.
From German published patent application 36 36 182 A1 it is known that a hinged housing supporting the supply roller and the opening roller is movably mounted from a stationary rotor housing without the rotor housing being linked to the hinged housing by an axle. Here however the axle of the driving shaft for the supply roller is not also the swivel axis for the hinged housing, so that the worm and the worm gear disengage when moved aside. The arrangement of the swivel axis in the interior of the device for open-end spinning makes it practically impossible to support the hinged housing in a simple way while making it detachable.
An object of the invention is to construct a device of the above mentioned kind which is maintenance-friendly.
This object is achieved in that the hinged housing is supported independently of the rotor housing while being detachable at right angles to the swivel axis.
By means of the design according to the invention, it is now possible to detach the hinged housing for maintenance purposes on the operational side, without the rotor housing having to be moved from its operational position.
In a development of the invention the hinged housing is pivotably slipped, with a fork-like brace formed in its fork base as a cylindrical surface, onto a suitably formed sliding surface of the mounting support. This type of mounting support makes it possible to detach the hinged housing at right angles to the swivel axis when required, without any fixtures having to be loosened.
The mounting support surrounds the drive shaft with a halfcylindrical interior contour with clearance space. This has the advantage on one hand that the mounting is not directly supported by the driving shaft and on the other that it is possible in addition to detach the drive shaft when required, without the mounting support with the hinged housing having to be dismantled first.
In an advantageous development of the invention the fork-like brace is provided with a size of jaw outside the cylindrical surface, which size of jaw is larger than the diameter of the drive shaft but smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical surface, whereby the sliding surface is interrupted secant-like by a flat surface, whose distance from the swivel axis is less than half the size of the jaw. Due to this design, the hinged housing is not detachable from the mounting support when in its operational position, rather a pivot movement to the maintenance position is necessary before the hinged housing can be detached at right angles to the swivel axis.
In especially preferred embodiments, the swivel axis is arranged in direct proximity to the opening roller. This has the particularly advantageous result that the hinged housing itself and especially the driving elements for the supply roller can be made very short and therefore save space.
It is advantageous when the hinged housing has an exchangeable part of a case, which exchangeable part contains at least one part of the fiber feed channel which extends from the opening roller to the spinning rotor. By removing the hinged housing, the cover for the spinning rotor is therefore removed at the same time, whereby a traditional separate movable part of the case is not needed.
The hinged housing, including the exchangeable part of the case, is designed advantageously as a cover for the operational side of the spinning device and in particular for the spinning rotor. This has the advantage that a separate additional cover for the open-end rotor spinning unit is not necessary.
In a particularly advantageous development of the invention, the supply roller as well as the opening roller in the hinged housing are accessible from the operational side when the hinged housing is in spinning position. This results in the advantage that--if necessary after the removal of the front end lid of the opening roller--important spinning elements such as the supply roller and the opening roller can be observed while in operation. Furthermore it results in the additional advantage that the area of the supply and opening rollers can be cleaned of fly from time to time while in operation without the hinged housing having to be moved over into a maintenance position.
In preferred embodiments, the opening roller is connected with a drive wharve, which is driven by a tangential belt which is situated between the drive wharve and the swivel axis. When the hinged housing is moved aside, the opening roller is separated at the same time from its drive source, which consists of a tangential belt arranged in direct proximity and parallel to the swivel axis.
The rotor housing is accordingly arranged in a stationary position. This has the advantage that the most important spinning element, namely the spinning rotor, can remain in its operational position for maintenance purposes, so that an accumulation of tolerances and an adjusting of the spinning rotor are avoided.
The axle of the opening roller is--in the side view--accordingly arranged inclined to the horizontal axle of the spinning rotor. This results in the advantage that a fiber feed channel arranged between the opening roller and the spinning rotor can be constructed in a straight line, which is favorable for the delivery of the separated single fibers.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.